Consolidated Communications is set to get a new CFO later this week, appointing Fred Graffam to succeed longtime finance chief Steven Childers. Though he joins from a role at Brinks Home Security, Graffam’s experience includes stints at Comcast and Level 3 Communications.
Graffam will step into the CFO role on December 1, with Childers transitioning to an advisory role before exiting the company on December 31.
Childers joined Consolidated Communications in 2003 and has served as CFO since April 2004. As Consolidated pivoted in recent years to focus on building fiber in its core markets, Childers has overseen a range of transactions to support the shift. These include a $425 million investment from private equity firm Searchlight Capital in 2020 as well as the sale of its assets in Kansas City and Ohio earlier this year. The operator closed the sale of its wireless assets to Verizon for $490 million in September.
Consolidated is striving to deploy fiber to 70% of its footprint by 2025. To date, it has reached 34%.
Bob Udell, Consolidated’s CEO said Graffam steps into the CFO role with “an exceptional track record of creating value with subscription-based communication service providers.” He added Graffam’s “business acumen, industry and public company expertise as well as his operating experience make him well qualified to help lead Consolidated as we continue the transformation to a fiber-first broadband company.”
Graffam has served as CFO of Brings Home Security for the past five years and prior to that spent four years in various finance roles at geospatial imagery company DigitalGlobe. He did a stint as Level 3 Communications’ SVP of Finance for North America from 2012 to 2013. However, the majority of his career was spent at Comcast, where he worked from 1994 to 2011.
Roles there included Director of SEC and External Reporting, various finance positions within Comcast’s Cable division, and SVP of Finance for Comcast’s West Division. He ended his career at Comcast as Regional VP for Comcast’s Beltway Region, which spans Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and parts of Delaware, North Carolina and West Virginia.
The new CFO will have his hands full. Udell said during Q3 2022 earnings earlier this month that Consolidated is eyeing another $200 million worth of asset sales.